“L’Ermitage”
Today, some Art Nouveau for the soul…
This lovely lithograph, titled “L’Ermitage” or “L’Ermitage Revue Illustree”, is by the French Art Nouveau artist, Paul Berthon, from 1897. L’Ermitage was a monthly literary review that was published in Paris, France between 1890 and 1907.
The publication came under new management in 1896 during which time the literary review was reorganized. Subjects included in the magazine expanded beyond poetry and plays to also include that of the visual arts. With the expansion of subjects, the editors decided to commission Art Nouveau illustrations to grace the covers, such as this piece here.
Art Nouveau reflects the ideals and desires of Paris at the end of the nineteenth century, which include happiness and indulgence in life and beauty without all the turmoil and problems of the newly industrialized world. In this piece, Berthon uses a woman with long flowing hair and flowers as a symbol of beauty and purity. The print consists of just four colors in addition to the black ink.
“L’Ermitage” was included in the Les Maitre de L’Affiches series, or Masters of the Poster. This series was originally offered as a subscription for collectors, in which a different poster was mailed out monthly and which could be bound together at the end of the year. “L’Ermitage” was mailed out in 1900 as plate 227 of the series. These posters were greatly appealing due to their smaller, more manageable size, and the high quality of printing materials. The original larger posters usually had to be rolled up to store and were printed with a lesser quality ink.
A lithograph copy of “L’Ermitage” is currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California, the United States.
For more on Paul Berthon, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
